Those Christmas Bells
by Never Ending Illusions
Summary: BuffyxTMNT. The Flame Series. It's Christmastime. Snow falling, fireplaces running and dead children? What will the group encounter as they try to uncover the mystery?
1. Chapter 1

**Those Christmas Bells**

By Zaru

Summary: The Flame Series. It's Christmastime. Snow falling, fireplaces running and dead children? What will the group encounter as they try to uncover the mystery?

Disclaimer: Buffy characters belong to Joss Whedon. TMNT belongs to Nickelodeon. I do, however, own Zaru and other characters not associated with the Buffy or TMNT universes. XD

**A/n:** I decided that with it being the Christmas season, I would write a short story factoring in with the Flame Series for the BuffyxTMNT crossover! Now, the following story you are going to read is the Buffy verse's version of Christmas and Santa Claus :D So enjoy.

_**Chapter 1**_

The snowstorm raged topside stalling cars from getting to their destinations and people yelling, piling on top of each other trying to get home from Christmas shopping. Aside from the noise of honking horns and shouts of inappropriate phrases, the slayers and witch rather enjoyed themselves. 

Buffy and Dawn walked side by side, mountains of bags covering their arms and packages overflowing past their heads. Barely able to see in front of them, they counted on Faith and Willow who were leading the way back to their brownstone home. Zaru stood last in line, bags covering her arms as well and bundled up as best she could from the winter cold. 

"_Ne,_ Faith!" She called. Faith's head turned a little, acknowledging the she heard her friend's call. "What street are we on?" 

"Uh, not sure, but I think we're less than a block away from home. This dress shop we're passing is right near where we live."

Sighing happily, the demon slayer adjusted the bags on her arms. "I hope so. I don't know how much longer I'm gonna be able to hold these things. They're weighing me down a lot!" Zaru laughed. 

"Well, it's not our fault you and B went all out on your shopping." Faith snickered. "Oh shit!" She growled, pulling her hood tighter against the rushing wind that came upon them suddenly. 

"Oh no!" Dawn cried out.

"What's wrong?" Buffy asked her little sister, stopping in her tracks. 

Dawn turned and pointed with her smallest finger. "One of the gifts just flew off my pile!" 

"I'll get it." Willow offered and ran past the group, following the escaped present. 

The cold wind blew the light package into the alleyway, stalling at the beginning of a horde of trash cans. The red-headed witch turned the corner sharply and smiled when she saw the bright colored gift. 

"You won't get away now." Willow grinned and leaned down to pick it up, only to have her gloved hand grab something along with the box. "What the- Oh my goddess!" She squeaked and threw the box away, backing up from the trash. There in her sights was a pale blue, female hand. 

"Willow!" Buffy shouted and ran up to her best friend, the packages she once had in the arms of Faith who followed close behind. "What happened? What's wrong?" 

"T-T-There!" She pointed to the hand in the pile of garbage. 

Buffy and Faith looked down. "Wow." The blonde sighed. "What do you think, Faith? Humans? Or vampires?"

The reformed slayer shrugged. "Vamps would be my guess. But it could easily be someone human."

"Let's find out." The 22-year-old pushed past her friends to get a closer look. Lifting the metal cans aside, a human body was revealed, clothes torn to shreds and blood spattered all around her limp body. But she could not find any marks of vampires' anywhere on her. "Hmm. Definitely not vampires. We should call the police now." She walked away, taking out her cell phone.

Willow's head tilted to the side as she studied the corpse. "Buffy, wait. Don't call yet."

"Why not?" 

"Look." Willow leaned down, and as carefully as possible, pulled something out of its open mouth. "It looks like a note of some sort." She opened the paper which was already damp from the snow and continued observing the body before her. "Hey! These marks." Gently, she shoved aside some ripped pieces of clothing to reveal what looked like claw marks. "It's like an animal got to her or something."

"But when do animals write notes and leave them in the mouth of their prey?" Faith asked. 

Before anybody could reply, their friend appeared around the corner. "Ugh. Why am I still waiting for you guys?" Zaru sighed heavily as she appeared in the beginning of the alley. "Do you realize how cold it is? And how heavy these bags are?"

"Zaru…" Buffy trailed off.

"And another thing…What?" The green-hair dyed woman averted her gaze down to see the dead person. "Oh shit." She mumbled. "What happened to her?"

"Looks like somebody set something pretty wild on her. And left a calling card, too." Willow replied showing Zaru the note.

Setting her bags down in the snow, she grabbed the piece of paper from the witch and read it. "This isn't our jurisdiction. A murderer is on the loose somewhere and has some crazy ass toys to play with." Turning the paper around, she pointed to it. "This says, 'Catch me if you can, pigs.' Which means they're talking to the police and not something we can take care of." Folding the paper back up, the demon slayer handed it back to Willow. "Call the police, Buffy, so we can hurry home."

The snowfall halted momentarily allowing the females to let down their hoods. It was getting a little warm inside their bundled attire and wished the police would hurry. Finally, as the sirens wailed in the distance, Buffy decided it was best if she took Dawn back home to their Brownstone house to alleviate the amount of shopping goods they acquired throughout the evening. That left only Willow, Faith and Zaru whose ears were filled with the jingling of bells in the distance.

Less than an hour later, the door to the brownstone building clicked open and creaked as the females walked inside, shaking the snow from their bodies and footwear. All the questioning and statements with police was too much for Faith. Even though her record had been wiped clear by the Society of Light, she was still very wary about them as though they were ready to handcuff her once again and bring her to the big house. But Willow assured her friend that everything would be all right. The police were pretty occupied with the murder now, so things could stay as normal as possible for them. 

"Phew. I'm glad to be out of there." Faith muttered, dropping a few bags on the floor next to the door. "Don't ever get me involved around police again. I hate them with a passion." The slayer unzipped her jacket and hung it on the coat rack a few feet away. 

Willow shivered. "Goddess, it's cold out there. I don't know how much longer I would have been able to handle the snow. I'm really not used to it still." She unbuttoned her furry coat. 

"If I knew how bad it was going to snow in New York, I wouldn't have moved here with you guys." Zaru stated.

"You used to live in Japan, Zaru. What makes there any different than here? You do get snow there, right?" Willow asked.

She shrugged. "Yeah, of course we get snow. It's always beautiful in the wintertime."

"Then what's the difference?"

"It wasn't as bad there as here. It was just the right amount of snow for me. Not a continuing blizzard of snowfall, not knowing whether there'll be only flurries or a whole heap piled on me." Zaru stated as she set her boots by the door and continued into the living room. 

Buffy was sitting on the couch, a fire roaring away in the fireplace and the T.V. on to _It's a Wonderful Life._ Willow and Faith made a last check of snow before sitting down on the other end of the couch and recliner. It made the redhead smile seeing the movie. Although she was Jewish and did celebrate her Hanukkah days, the days as Christmas neared excited her. It was a holiday she celebrated as well, despite her own heritage. Especially when she was living with her friends who celebrated the white holiday and not hers. Plus, she enjoyed watching the Christmas movies. Always made her feel warm and fuzzy inside. 

"I really love this movie. It's a total classic." Buffy spoke after mere moments. "Making that wish of never being born and discovering the true meaning of Christmas." A sigh escaped. "It must be nice."

"Che. I've seen this movie I don't know how many times when I was younger, B. Never appealed to me. Now, _A Miracle on 34th__ Street_? _THAT_ was an awesome movie. It over takes _It's a Wonderful Life _any day of the year. Ooh, cookie." Faith reached forward stealing a cookie from a plate on the coffee table in front of them. "Where'd these come from? I didn't know we had them."

"Dawn kind of conned me into buying them at the last store we were at earlier today. I never knew how good sugar cookies with M&Ms and drizzled chocolate could taste. I'm pretty hooked on these babies now." Buffy grinned and took her own cookie, savoring the taste after her first bite. "Mmm. I gotta get some more of these for after-patrol snacking."

"I second that. Do it next time you go near that store." Faith replied, mouth full of cookie goodness. 

"So, where's Zaru? She didn't come home with you?" The blonde asked. 

Willow pointed behind her. "She went somewhere. Probably the kitchen."

Buffy swallowed loudly. "The kitchen?"

"Yeah, why?" Her best friend wondered.

"Snap!" Buffy bolted off the couch and ran into the kitchen.

"BUFFY!" The two women left in the living room heard Zaru shout.

Faith continued chewing on her cookie. "Gee. Wonder what that's all about." She smirked giving Willow a knowing look. 

"Yep. Buffy or Dawn left the kitchen messed up again." Willow shook her head. "She really needs to learn how to do housekeeping better."

In the kitchen, Zaru was flabbergasted. There was quite a mess of grease on the stove, dirty pots in the sink and something of what appeared to sauce of some sort covered the little island in the center with rust-colored splatters. 

"BUFFY!" She shouted. How could a mess like that happen so quickly? Why couldn't they keep themselves out of the kitchen when neither knew how to cook properly. It was an unfortunate disaster. 

"You called?"

Zaru turned, blue eyes darkening. "Buffy Summers, how many times have I told you _not_ to cook unless you're gonna clean up after yourselves? Especially in _my_ kitchen?"

The only thing Buffy could do was smile nervously. She had been told several times not to use the stove unless she bothered to clean up the mess she made afterward. But she was always tired after cooking, so she never really sought out cleaning.

"I'm sorry. Dawn and I were hungry so I thought about making some bacon and pasta."

Zaru licked her lips. "That would explain the sauce and grease. But why didn't you clean up after yourselves? You know better."

The vampire slayer just shrugged. "Sorry."

Clasping her hands behind her back, the green-haired woman smiled. "I'm going upstairs to take a shower. Please clean up this mess before I come back down or I will never let you in this kitchen as long as you live here."

"Yeah, yeah." Buffy shooed her away. "Go, go. I'll be sure everything is cleaned up as quickly as possible."

"Thank you." With a turn, she made her escape from the kitchen.

As Willow and Faith were continuing to watch _It's a Wonderful Life_, a Breaking News bulletin appeared onscreen.

"_We interrupt _It's A Wonderful Life _to bring you the latest on a breaking news story. Maggie Sterling has the details."_

"_Thanks, Roger. Twelve-year-old Demetri Richards was found dead early this evening in his family's home by his parents. Local authorities say the child was disemboweled from his chest to lower body by what appeared to be a wild animal. According to police, there was no sign of forced entry nor are there any suspects at the moment. As of right now, police are still investigating the death of Demetri Richards. They are asking for anybody to come forward with any information they can to help solve this case. Back to you…" _

The voice of the reporter drowned out, Willow and Faith's mouths agape. Zaru was standing behind them, stalled from going upstairs after hearing the breaking news. 

"My goddess! Who would even think of doing something like that to an innocent child?" The Jewish woman shook her head, a frown appearing.

"You mean _what_ could do something like that to a child?" Zaru bit her lower lip.

Faith glanced up at her housemate. "You think it's a demon?"

"Well, apparently, the kid was disemboweled by an animal. So, chances are, it's a demon that did it." No sooner did she speak, her house phone rang, picking it up on the first ring. "Hello?" She paused for a moment. "Yeah, I heard it on the news. Uh-huh. I'm not sure, but I have my theories on what caused it. Yes. We'll see you later." Sighing heavily, she hung up the phone. "Damn him." She muttered.

"Who was it?"

"Miyaki-_san_. He was watching the news and the report showed up."

Willow's eyes widened a little. "He's pretty quick recruiting you, isn't he?"

"Pffft. He didn't recruit me to do anything. Just gave me the heads-up on the situation."

"Do you think that boy and the body we found earlier are connected perhaps?"

Faith shook her head. "No. That girl we found had every organ in her body. The kid was disemboweled. Remember? His organs were taken out."

"And they did say the police never found anything about forced entry or signs of any suspects."

"Ya know, I'm kind of getting a headache thinking about all this. I'm gonna shower and then we can figure out something later."

They all agreed to deal with the situation at a more comfortable time.

T.B.C. 

A/n: Hmm…. Not too shabby, I guess… . Thanks for reading this first chapter. XD

Zaru


	2. Chapter 2

**Those Christmas Bells**

By Zaru

Summary: The Flame Series. It's Christmastime. Snow falling, fireplaces running and dead children? What will the group encounter as they try to uncover the mystery?

Disclaimer: Buffy characters belong to Joss Whedon. TMNT belongs to Nickelodeon. I do, however, own Zaru and other characters not associated with the Buffy or TMNT universes. XD

**A/n:** This is chapter 2. I hope you enjoy.

_**Chapter 2**_

It was only a week later, a few days before Christmas when the housemates heard about two more killings of children on the news. Buffy was becoming agitated, hearing all about the poor kids being killed just days before a family holiday. The blonde slayer was itching to kill something, but with the low temperatures and heavy-falling snow, patrolling was not permitted. So, instead, they all decided to head down to the lair to visit with the turtles and Master Splinter, hoping they might have found something about the killings while patrolling the city.

The sewers were freezing as they trudged through the shallow water in rain boots. They had learned that whenever visiting the guys, they would need waders so they're shoes and feet wouldn't get wet. The smell repelled them half the time, but they continued on until the group found the entrance they were looking for. Buffy reached up, pulling down the second of four small pipes and stood back as the bricks parted revealing the heavy metal door of the lair.

The turtles were spread throughout the lair eating their dinner of pizza and soda. Master Splinter remained in his room for meditation leaving his sons to do as they pleased. Leonardo chewed on another bite of his pizza before taking a sip of Cola. Unfortunately, the blue-bandana wearing turtle wasn't really hungry that night since his mind was on other things at the moment. During patrols, they'd always hear about the murder of innocent children while overlooking the crime scenes wherever police roamed. In one situation, he and his brothers heard the strange sound of bells come and go. The bell sound had come from the direction of one of the brownstone homes where a child was killed. And they were so close by, but unable to catch any criminal coming from that area. Whoever was picking off the children one by one was an evil mastermind in Leonardo's book.

The door of the lair opened to reveal all the figures of the slayers, witch and former key. Donatello was the one who greeted them.

"Hello, girls." He smiled and waved, a pair of goggles perched upon his domed head. "What are you doing out here in this cold weather? I hope you aren't planning to patrol tonight. The weather channel says the temperature could get below zero in the middle of the night." When he saw Willow, a grin spread ear to ear. "Hi, Willow."

"Hey, Donnie." Willow bound down the steps happily while removing her heavy faux fur coat. Giving him a quick kiss, she set her coat over the railing. "So, what're you doing tonight?"

Donatello held up a tool box. "I was going to check the gears and computers on the Shellicopter. Wanna come? I could always use an extra hand."

At her nod, the two headed off toward his lab, her arm wrapped around his.

Zaru smiled and shook her head. Upon seeing Leonardo spaced out, she waved. "Yo, Leo!"

The turtle turned to glance noticing his girlfriend and the others. "Oh, hi, guys." He set down what was left of his pizza and soda on the table in front of him and stood. "What are you girls doing here? It's pretty chilly out tonight. I figured you'd be staying in where it's nice and warm."

Buffy just smirked as she made her way down the steps before taking off her rain boots. "Nah." She shrugged off her coat and set her boots aside near the steps while draping her jacket over Willow's. "I don't feel like being cooped up in the house all night."

"I'm guessing patrolling is out of the question, huh?" He asked as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders while she sighed heavily. "What's wrong, Buffy?" Leonardo turned her to face him. "What's the matter?"

"It's just," She licked her lower lip. "I don't understand what is going on around here."

"Huh?" He was confused.

"There's something bad going on around here, Leo."

The fearless leader nodded. "Yeah. I know what you mean. It's about the dead children, right?" At her nod, he continued. "I understand how you feel. We've been around and heard what the police were saying."

Zaru and Faith continued down the stairs.

"Well, we're trying to figure out what's going on ourselves. I mean, whoever or whatever is doing this to those poor kids is running crazy through the city and there's nothing that we or the police can do about it unless he's caught in the act." Zaru stated, arms folded across her chest.

"Perhaps we might know something you don't." Leonardo gazed down at Buffy who smiled small.

Her throat cleared. "That's one of the reasons why we came here, too. To swap information if you had any."

"And it seems you do, Leo." Faith smirked.

All four turtles, slayers, witch and Master Splinter sat around on whatever they could find in the living area. Dawn kept herself busy playing games on Donatello's computer since she didn't feel like getting involved. Raphael sat back in the leather chair as Zaru sat on his lap comfortably as possible, ankles crossed. Willow and Donatello sat side by side on the coffee table while Leonardo, Buffy and Master Splinter took up the couch leaving Michelangelo and Faith on the floor. The raven-haired vampire slayer sat in between Michelangelo's legs, arms resting on top of his knees, the hardness of his plastron keeping her level.

"So, what have you guys heard?" Willow asked.

Donatello clasped his large hands together. "According to police, all three victims were found dead near fireplaces. Every single one of them had their internal organs removed and wrapped up in Christmas décor." He stood up, beginning to pace back and forth. "Now, without a doubt, the murder scenes were scanned thoroughly for any evidence. And many witnesses have come forth stating strange occurrences."

Zaru raised an eyebrow. "Occurrences? What occurrences?" The demon slayer listened as best she could to all the details, not wanting to missing a single thing.

The scientific turtle continued on. "People were saying things about hearing bells before and after the murders."

"Bells?" Buffy was puzzled. "Okay. Now _that_ is weird. Unless it's just the bells from local churches going off?"

"Donnie, can you find out if there are any churches near the murder victims' homes?"

"I've done that already. And there is only one church nearby the first victim's house. But the bells on that church never go off since they're old."

Zaru groaned. "Anything else we can use?"

Donatello nodded. "I hacked into the police station's computer files. I brought up all the police reports and everything along with the cases. It seems that there were some fibers found at the scenes, too."

Buffy wasn't satisfied with his answers. "Wasn't there any signs of forced entry or anything? I mean, these murders happened at night." Leonardo lowered his head and mumbled something. His girlfriend tried to see his face. "What'd you say?"

"There were footprints found." He finally answered.

"Where?" Willow was more curious than ever.

"In the fireplace. Footprints made from a type of work boot was found in the fireplace."

The witch motioned for him to continue on. "And the fibers? What kind of fibers did they find?"

"There was fur. White fiber and red fiber."

"Were the children all home alone when this happened?" Faith finally asked.

"Yeah. According to the reports, all children were home alone and found by their parents later on." Raphael put in his two cents.

Zaru took it all in. "Okay. Children home alone. Disemboweled. Wrapped in Christmas decorations. White and red fur. Footprints in the fireplace and no forced entry." She tried to piece everything together.

"Oh, and the bell sounds, Zaru. Can't forget those."

"Children. Bells. Fur. Fireplace." Zaru stood up. "But what could all of these things have in common?"

Michelangelo put up a finger. "Uh, dudettes, I have a suggestion of whom it might be."

All eyes turned to the prankster turtle.

"Who, Mikey?"

"Uh, Santa."

Every single pair of eyes widened at the suggestion. Could it be possible that someone or something was dressed like Santa Claus and hurt those poor children? Only time spent on finding out more information would help.

TBC…

A/n: Well, chapter 2 is done for now. I'm not sure when I will get to chapter 3, so from me to you, I wish you a happy holiday and a Merry Christmas. J

Zaru


	3. Chapter 3

**Those Christmas Bells**

By Zaru

Summary: The Flame Series. It's Christmastime. Snow falling, fireplaces running and dead children? What will the group encounter as they try to uncover the mystery?

Disclaimer: Buffy characters belong to Joss Whedon. TMNT belongs to Nickelodeon. I do, however, own Zaru and other characters not associated with the Buffy or TMNT universes. XD

**A/n:** My reasoning for an M rating: I put an M rating on this story because there will be some pretty gory violence happening near the end of this short story. And no, there won't be any 'naughty' scenes with the turtles lol. In any case, there is also going to be some bad words, too. You have been told. Thanks. J

_**Chapter 3**_

The group was beyond shocked at Michelangelo's suggestion of Santa Claus being the murder suspect. But thinking of all the things taking place, there was a chance it could be someone playing around with the notion of being jolly Old St. Nicholas. Donatello rubbed his chin and Willow's head tilted to the side. Both in deep thought.

"Mikey, are you seriously suggesting that it was someone dressed like Santa Claus doing all the killings of those poor children?" Buffy asked in shock.

Master Splinter rubbed his own furry chin as well. "It seems it would make sense, my children, that such a thing could be a possibility."

Zaru shook her head. "But seriously, come on now. Santa Claus? There's just no way."

Dawn finally made her presence known as she stood behind the couch, arms folded across her chest. "I don't think it's someone dressed like Santa Claus."

"Then who do you think it is, Dawnie?"

"It's not someone dressed like Santa Claus. It _is_ Santa Claus."

The turtles and human allies glanced around at each other.

"Dawn, I thought we've been over this. Santa Claus doesn't exist. He's just a myth. I could have sworn you found out when you were 10." Buffy sighed.

Willow shook her head, still thinking. "No, Buffy. I think she might have the right idea." As the blonde stared at her, she continued. "Remember that one Christmas Eve dinner before Joyce passed away? Anya was telling us about Santa Claus being real."

Buffy licked her lips. "I don't know anything about that. Apparently, I wasn't important enough to be included in such a conversation." Her arm wound around Leo's shell, her fingers picking at the casing holding his twin katana.

Zaru blinked. "Dawn may be onto something. I mean, I heard something like that when I was beginning my study of demonology. Some demon apparently held the appearance of the one idol children loved so much and used it against them brutally by coaxing them to him and gutting them." She visibly shuddered. "What a horrible thing to do."

"That's something like Anya told us." Willow stated, her finger tapping her chin. "But I think it was along the lines of him coming around Christmastime with flying reindeer and going down chimneys. All the fun stuff. But instead of presents…" Her words trailed off not wanting to say that horrible word anymore.

"He gutted them like Zaru said." Her best friend finished for her. "A demon Santa that disembowels children instead of leaving presents under the tree is not the Santa I grew up knowing." Buffy's emerald eyes squeezed shut as she hid her face in Leonardo's shoulder. "How horrible for those poor kids."

If there was one thing Buffy didn't approve of now, it was Santa Claus causing bodily harm to innocent people. Her heart cried out for those who had lost their lives at the hand of the possible lunatic. To think an icon of children's fantasies was real and wreaking such havoc was something she wanted to rid the world of immediately. If nothing else, she would be glad to put an end to his existence once and for all.

Faith's eyes moved around them as she still sat with Michelangelo on the floor. "Well, what are we going to do? Decapitate every Santa ringing a bell for charity? In case you haven't noticed, there's at least a few dozen of them around the city, B."

"I don't know exactly what we're going to do yet, Faith. Especially when we might be jumping to conclusions." Zaru reached into her pocket. "I got an idea. Hold on." She pulled out a cell phone, flipping it open, but averted her gaze to Donatello before pressing any buttons. "Donnie, is reception good down here?"

"I'm not sure. You can try, but I don't think you'll get anywhere." The intelligent turtle shrugged his shoulders. "Unless you go near the satellites located in my lab. That might pull in some reception for you, but I'm not sure."

"Either way, I'm trying." Several buttons were dialed before she set the phone on speaker.

A little static sounded before the ringing was heard. "I think it is good down here." She smirked.

"Who are you calling?"

"The Society of Light. I know someone there who might be able to help us."

It rang a little more before someone picked up a phone.

"Hikari Gakkai. (Society of Light)"

"_Kore ga Zaru desu. Watashi wa Ryuji ni hanashimashou. (This is Zaru. I need to speak to Ryuji)"_

"Ryuji wa shiyo dekimasen. Ta no dareka ga watashi wa anata no tame ni shutoku suru koto ga dekimasuarimasu ka? (Ryuji is not available. Is there someone else I can get to the phone for you?)"

Zaru sighed heavily. "This isn't good. _Shunkan ni horudo_. (Hold on.)" She muted the phone.

Raphael rubbed his girlfriend's back. "What's wrong, babe?"

"Ryuji isn't in. And he's the one to talk to."

Faith pushed herself up from the floor with Michelangelo's help. "Well, can't you do something?"

"I'll try." Taking the phone off mute, she asked, "_Dare ga akuma ni toku-ka shunkan wa nanidesu ka? (Can you direct me to someone who knows about demons?)"_

"Shan Xiang inchi watashi wa anata o iso shinakereba naranaidesu ka? (Would you like me to transfer you to Shan Xiang?)"

"_Hai. (Yes.)"_

The few closest to the cell phone heard a click, then some more ringing before a voice which spoke English, thank goodness for them, answered.

"_Shan Xiang._"

"Xiang, how are you?"

His voice raised a little in excitement. "_Zaru, is that you?"_

She chuckled. "Yep, it's me, Xiang. Listen, I don't have much time. I need you to do a favor for me since Ryuji isn't there."

"_Oh, anything you need I'll do."_

"Great. I need you to get me as much information as you can about Santa Claus."

There was a moment's pause before he answered. "_I didn't know you were still interested in Santa Claus after all these years, Zaru." _

She could hear him laughing loudly on the other end. "Very funny, Xiang. You _know_ what Santa Claus I'm talking about. Get the information about the demon and get back to me."

"_Right. I'll call when I find anything."_

She flipped the phone shut and stuffed it back into her jean pocket. "Okay. Hopefully he'll be able to rustle up something useful for us. Specifically on how to kill this kind of demon."

"And what kind of demon are we talking about here? And how do we know it's even a demon doing all this?"

"Unless this Santa is some kind of shadow warrior who can sneak everywhere without being noticed, I think we should lay out the fact that this is the work of a demon. At least for now."

Before another word could be stated, Zaru's cell rang.

"That was fast." Willow looked at her surprised.

Zaru rolled her eyes and answered it. "Hello?" A moment's pause and her eyes widened. "_What? _I'll be right there!" The phone snapped shut and the demon slayer made her way for the stairs, jumping over the couch near Splinter in the process.

"Whoa, babe, slow down! What's wrong?" Raphael intercepted her, grabbing onto her upper arms. "What happened?"

Her hands fisted at her sides. "Somebody tried breaking into my club! The police were patrolling the area and luckily caught him before he could do any damage. But I need to go there right now and talk to them. Ugh! I'm so mad!" Pulling away from Raphael, she reached for her jacket and ran up the steps, the lair door opening and closing behind her retreating form.

"Think we should follow?" Michelangelo rubbed the back of his head, Faith's arm hanging freely around his neck.

Faith smirked, pulling her turtle to her for a quick kiss. "Let's do it."

TBC…

A/n2: I hope you enjoyed this short chapter. There will be another chapter after this, probably the last one for this story, but either way, I will finish this one. It's fun. XD

Zaru


	4. Chapter 4

**Those Christmas Bells**

By Zaru

Summary: The Flame Series. It's Christmastime. Snow falling, fireplaces running and dead children? What will the group encounter as they try to uncover the mystery?

Disclaimer: Buffy characters belong to Joss Whedon. TMNT belongs to Nickelodeon. I do, however, own Zaru and other characters not associated with the Buffy or TMNT universes. XD

**A/n:** My reason for an M rating: I put an M rating on this story because there will be some pretty gory violence happening near the end of this short story. And no, there won't be any 'naughty' scenes with the turtles lol. In any case, there is also going to be some bad words, too. You have been told. Thanks. J

_**Chapter 4**_

The problem with the club had been solved rather easily, Zaru unwilling to file charges against a teenage runaway who was only looking for a warm place to rest around the building. Instead, the police took the teenage male to a local homeless shelter where he would be given food and a bed to sleep in for the night. Now, the crew was inside of _Club Kunoichi_ ready to continue their conversation before they were interrupted by the phone call from the police.

Zaru stood behind the bar, opening bottles of beer for her friends. They had left Dawn in the lair with Master Splinter who was regaling her with stories about old Japan. As the last beer was opened, she threw the opener on the bar and chugged half her own beer down and letting out a heavy sigh that had been wanting to escape for awhile now.

The blonde slayer looked over at her friend worriedly. The situation with a possible demon strutting around the city dressed as Santa Claus seriously disturbed them. And it was Zaru who most likely would love to have the opportunity of getting rid of him once and for all. Buffy held a tight grip on her beer, barely touching it whereas Raphael and Michelangelo were drowning themselves in theirs.

"Okay." Willow finally said after taking a sip. "How long do you think Shan Xiang will take to get back to you?"

Zaru shrugged. "Judging on his own knowledge of _youkai, _well, I honestly cannot say. Maybe a few hours, give or take."

"So there's a chance he'll return a call to you this evening then?" Asked Leonardo.

At the demon slayer's nod, Raphael stated, "So, if there's a possibility, and I mean IF, that this fucker is a demon Claus, how the hell do you think we're going to catch the bastard? Cause I for one have no ideas at this time."

Silence followed the group as everybody was seemingly thinking of a way to catch him in the act. The clock ticked as seconds, then minutes passed by, the group of eight drinking beer lost in thoguth. It was then Willow spoke once more.

"I think we should also look into other possibilities aside from the Santa demon." The witch pursed her lips staring at Buffy.

Buffy bit her lower lip, head nodding slowly. "Yeah. We should consider other options, but the way everything's happened, is there a chance it could be human?"

The club owner swallowed the rest of her beer before depositing the bottle in the glass recycling can behind her.

"No. I mean, how the hell would a human get up on the roof of these homes? He'd have to a ladder or something to do the trick and I think it would be damn obvious to neighbors about a weirdo walking down the street with an extension ladder of some sort."

"They could use climbing tools." Donatello suggested. "Something small and portable, easily hidden."

Faith nodded. "Easily, yeah. But there were people around walking the streets. Someone would have seen something."

"But they did _hear_ something, Faith." Michelangelo said. "Sleigh bells."

Zaru snorted. "I'm telling ya, if this all fits to this demon, I really wanna see flying reindeer. Then I will have seen everything."

Somehow that conversation led into stories of Christmases long ago that were either funny or sad. Plenty more beers had been drunk and it got to around midnight when they decided to head back to the lair. The girls would stay overnight not wanting to trudge back through and take Dawn home at such an hour. Especially when it had become especially cold.

The return to the lair was eventful. The turtles hopped roofs as the girls stuck to walking; all four of them bundled tightly. Faith was ready to hail a cab just to remain warm when Buffy spread her arms, halting the group, boots crunching lightly in the hard snow.

"Buffy, what's-"

"Shhhh!" She sounded as her face turned to the white flaky sky. It was several seconds before she finally asked, "Are you hearing this?" The slayer asked in a whisper.

Her fellow slayers and witch looked up into the sky with her, ears straining to hear whatever she was hearing.

Faith's nose scrunched up getting a waft of the dumpster close by. "God, that thing stinks!"

"Faith, be quiet!" Willow scolded her, gently pushing Buffy's arm down and moving forward, quietly as possible. "I hear something."

The demon slayer also stepped forward, the aura of a demonic presence faint, but nearby. "I feel something." She said as she fled into the dark alley.

"Zaru!" Buffy called having no choice but to follow their friend. "Come on!"

She ran, faster than any human, trying to catch up to the presence she detected only mere moments before. The slayer just had to get there as quickly as possible, otherwise it would be gone and she would feel awful about letting it get away from her so easily. Zaru wasn't about to let that happen though. Noticing the presence of the others behind her, she picked up the pace, hurdling over garbage cans and stray animals running through the darkness of the alley until she reached the other side.

The green-haired female stopped when people were walking by, looking at her surroundings to catch a sense of the demon near. But all the slayer could hear was the sound of sleigh bells in the distance.

The group caught up to her pretty easily, slowing to a jog until standing next to her.

"Zaru, what's wrong?" Buffy asked, setting a gloved hand on her friend's shoulder.

She was breathing heavily, wisps of smoke coming from her mouth. "Another child is dead." Was all she said before turning back into the alley, head lowering in shame that she could not find her possible demon. Buffy, Faith and Willow all looked at one another sadly, before also resuming their walk back into the alley behind the retreating figure.

When they got to the middle of the alley, the turtles jumped down from the fire escape they were on and saw the look of sorrow on their human friend. Raphael walked over to his girlfriend, his large green hands moving to cup her face to make her look at him.

"What's the matter?" He asked gently.

She stuttered while inhaling. "It was too late." Zaru said. "I felt the presence of a demon but when I got to the end of the alley, it was gone and I heard the bells."

"Oh, baby." The turtle pulled his girl into his embrace, holding her tightly against him. "I'm sorry."

"We might want to keep an eye on the news tonight." Donatello suggested. "And I'll check the police files in the morning to see if anything did happen."

They went through the manhole in that same alley, not caring about the long walk back to the lair in murky, disgusting water. They trudged through, water splashing all around them as they made many turns before finally coming to the door of the lair. Faith pulled down the pipe, the doors opening and them making their way inside.

Making their way down the stairs, Michelangelo was ready to say something when he saw Splinter, but was hushed by the wizened rat and pointed to upstairs.

"Dawn is asleep. She did not know when you would return, so I made sure she was comfortable for the night."

Buffy smiled small and thanked him. "That sounds like a good idea. Perhaps we should all get some rest." Glancing over at Zaru, she said, "All of us."

Zaru nodded. "Yeah, I know. Sleep does sound really good right now."

"Come on, babe. We'll head up to my room." Raphael said, grabbing her hand and leading her toward the stairs. "Goodnight, everyone." He said, waving as they retreated to his private area for the night.

The rest of the group did the same, the night's events startling each of them.

The alarm clock next to Raphael's bed on the nightstand was going on 4:34 A.M. when the familiar ring tone of Zaru's cell phone pulled the turtle out of a much needed rest. He groaned as he reached out an arm, hand searching for the noise that lulled him awake. When he felt the vibration, he gripped it and pulled it to his face, eyes opening to focus on the name of the caller I.D. It said 'Unknown'_. _His blue eyes turned to see Zaru still asleep, and not wanting to wake her, answered the phone on his own.

"Whoever the fuck this is that is calling at 4 in the fucking morning better have a damn good reason." He rumbled into the receiver.

"_My apologies. I forget the time difference is great between us."_ Said an accented voice.

Raphael sighed heavily. "Who the hell is this?"

"_My name is Shan Xiang. Zaru called me earlier and I am just returning her call. It is very important that I speak with her."_

"Shan Xiang?" The name was trying to register in his still sleep-addled brain. "Oh yeah. She was the one who called you earlier about Demon Claus."

"_Yes. That would be me. May I speak to her please? It is urgent." _He sounded rather worried.

He nodded into the phone. "Yeah, yeah. Hold on a sec." Gently, he shook his female awake, the cell phone in his hand. "Hey, babe, wake up."

Zaru groaned and turned over to face him, eyes still closed. "What is it, Raph? I'm so tired right now." She mumbled sleepily.

He smiled small. "I know, babe, but it's that Shan Xiang guy on the cell for ya. He says it's urgent."

"Urgent?" She asked, eyes finally opening, hand rubbing the Sandman's sand away. "Great." Zaru murmured as she grabbed the phone from the turtle. "Yeah, Xiang?"

"_Zaru, listen to me, I have all the information about that demon you wanted."_

"Great. But can you call in about five or six hours? I'm just so exhausted right now."

"_No, Zaru. You must listen! If you want to get rid of this demon, you better do it right away."_

The demon slayer narrowed her eyes, sitting up in the bed. "What the hell are you talking about, Xiang?"

"_The 'Demon Claus' as your friend calls him, is very dangerous." _There was a pause and the flipping of pages. _"The demon taking on the form of this Santa is called Wuye-emo."_

"Wuye-emo? What the hell does that mean?"

"_It means 'Demon of Midnight or simply Midnight Demon. He was an ancient demon that fed on the hearts of humans for hundreds of years. It was during the time of the initiation _taijiya_ known as Sennet back in the early 1100s, along with the help of an omniyoji named Abe no Konnei, that Wuye-emo was banished and sealed in a stone coffin, buried in the Forbidden Temple of LiYun Shi."_

Zaru nodded. "Okay. If the asshole was buried, how'd he get out?"

"_A young potential _taijiya_ was training at the Forbidden Temple with her Mentor. Though she was told to stay away from inside, curiosity got the best of her and, well, she let him free breaking the wards and everything."_

"What happened to her after she freed him?"

"_He killed her. Ate her heart and everything. But because of the size of her body, Wuye-emo pulled all of her organs out just to get the heart. Apparently the image appealed to him and he continued eating children's hearts and disemboweling them."_

Zaru felt like she was going to throw up. This was something she really did not want to hear. "Xiang, does any of the information say how to kill this thing?"

There was a moment of static before he answered. _"No. I'm afraid not. It seems the only way to stop this demon is to seal it away again."_

"Great." She muttered.

Xiang growled on the other line. _"Zaru, I'm sorry. But this was all I could find."_

She cleared her throat. "Fine. But how do you expect me to seal it away, Xiang? I'm not an _omniyoji or some kind of Chinese warlock._"

"_You have a friend who is a witch, do you not?"_

"Well, yeah, but she can't cast a spell in ancient Japanese or Chinese! Are you nuts?" She said a little loudly, jolting Raphael fully awake.

"Babe, what's wrong now?"

"_Zaru, please, give her a chance. You never know. After all, with the extensive research and background we have on Rosenberg-san, I'm sure she can pull it off just as well as an _omniyouji."

The young woman rubbed her forehead and sighed. "But how are we going to find this thing, Xiang? I mean, we can only track it by the sleigh bell sound and that sound means a child might be dead."

There was a long pause on the other end. _"Zaru, a simple tracking spell should do the trick. The only thing is you will need something of this demon's to use."_

"I don't have anything of it. I mean, except for some fiber samples from what it was wearing. But the police have it. I can't exactly stroll into the station and ask them for it."

"_A picture will suffice. If you have LiYun Shi's scroll book, you'll find a picture right in there."_

"That is one thing I definitely do not have from all the things I had sent here from Japan."

A laugh came from the other line. _"Do not worry. I will just have to email you the picture and information then. I'll even send you the spell and translation so you can work on it with Rosenberg-san."_

A small smile appeared on her face. "That's the best news I've heard since the murders, Xiang. Thank you."

"_Anything for you, Zaru. In the meantime, why don't you work on getting some rest. You will need it to go against Wuye-emo."_

"Yeah, yeah. I'll get plenty of rest. Don't you worry, Xiang. Me and my friends will be ready for whatever comes against us. You can count on that."

Raphael watched Zaru end the phone call, then begin typing on the screen to somebody as a text.

"Is everything all right, Zaru?"

She nodded as she continued. "Yeah, sweetie. Everything's gonna be just fine."

TBC…

A/n2: I hope you enjoyed this short chapter. There will be another chapter after this, probably the last one for this story, but either way, I will finish this one. It's fun. XD

Zaru


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